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BACKGROUND In multiethnic societies, it has frequently and repeatedly been shown that some minority groups have higher rates of traditional coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, different rates of treatment with revascularization procedures, and excess morbidity and mortality from CAD when compared with the white population. In the last two decades, Italy is becoming a diverse society with more than five millions of inhabitants from minority ethnic groups: for this reason, we decided to investigate whether ethnic differences in our metropolitan area are similar compared with the experience of Western countries. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1285 patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) hospitalized at Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU), Heart Center of ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy between 2014 and the end of 2019. Six percent of these patients were South-Asian, North-African, and South-American. Despite the younger age of nonwhite patients, their comorbid conditions and traditional cardiovascular risk factors showed peculiar differences. We did not observe any difference in terms of the number of coronary arteries involved at the enrollment, patients candidate to coronary artery bypass graft and either intra-hospital or at follow-up mortality. Nevertheless, the rate of re-infarction at follow-up was significantly higher in the nonwhite group. CONCLUSION We believe that a better knowledge and understanding of epidemiological changes in Italian society could improve our clinical practice, in particular, in order to better customize treatments and therapies.

Recent statistics about the low level of participation by individuals in physical activities as well as a generalized propensity to use private vehicles have broadened the scope of transport studies to the sphere of health and well-being. The current shift in travel demand modeling to the activity-based paradigm is central to investigating which population segment is more likely to opt for environmentally friendly and energy-efficient vehicles, alternative modes of transport, and a rational use of the motor car. A mixed, joint Tobit–probit model analyzes the effects of time allocation for daily activity on the propensity to sustainable trips. The model is applied to a sample of workers and students age 14 and older, drawn from a time-use survey conducted in Turin, Italy, and its metropolitan area. The analysis suggests the presence of self-selection effects between active lifestyles and sustainable mandatory trips. The model predictions highlight the substantial contribution of transportation interventions in getting individuals to engage in healthier behaviors.